~~Eleventh Meeting of the
MORAGA
ROTARY
NEWSLETTER
September 15, 2020
_________________________________
Next Meeting: September 22
Noon
Program: Heather Tiernan –
The Community Warning System
(CWS)
Greeter: Linda May
We are now conducting regular
meetings by Zoom or by phone!
____________________________
To participate next week:
Zoom connection information for next week’s
meeting will be distributed early next week.
Upcoming Speakers:
Sept 29 – Central Sanitation
Oct 6 – Steven Ahonen- Hope Academy
Oct 13 – Moraga Juniors
Oct 20 - Moraga Town Council
Candidates
Dec 1 – DG visit: Mark Roberts
2020/2021 Rotary Year ~~
President Brian South rang the
bell to open our meeting.
The invocator, Frank May offered
some quotes on the pandemic
related subjects of change and
boredom. He then lead the club in
the Pledge of Allegiance,
Guests today included Jim
Margraff, our speaker and
Rotarian. Jim brought several
guests from his company and the
Lamorinda Sunrise Rotary Club:
Spike Speicher, Michelle Hodgen
and Olivia Wentzell. We were
also joined by a friend of Moraga
Rotary, Larry Tessler.
~~Happy Bucks~~
This was a week of many happy
people:
Gary Irwin was happy about the
progress with the Spaghetti and
Meatball Dinner event and the fact
that he was able to take a walk with
Carol after many days of heavy
smoke.
Larry Tessler was happy about
the success of his recent
pacemaker operation. Stay
healthy, Larry.
Frank May offered a High $5 for
the start of the NFL season. Linda
is not too happy about the fake
crowd noise!
Brian South was happy about the
Chicago Bears win! He will take a
win no matter how it happens!
Debbie Koo was happy to get to
play hide and seek with her
granddaughter.
Mike McCluer offered a buck
honoring the life of Margaret
DePriester, two-time mayor of
Moraga, a Kiwanian, and a real
leader in the Town of Moraga who
passed away at the age of 98
earlier this week. Click here to
read the town proclamation of her
achievements.
Margaret DePriester Former Mayor of Moraga
~~ Birthdays ~~
There were no birthdays or
anniversaries this week.
~~Club Business and Info~~
Moraga Rotary Spaghetti and
Meatballs Dinner – Thursday,
September 24th (Flyer attached
on the back page)
We are planning our first “virtual”
fundraising event on Thursday
September 24th. La Finestra
restaurant, here in Moraga, will
provide the spaghetti and
meatballs meal. The total cost is
$30 per person with a free bottle of
wine with a $60 order.
The price includes a $10 donation
to Moraga Rotary. Meals may be
picked up in front of the restaurant.
Specific pickup times are selected
when ordering the meal.
Go to moragarotaryfundraiser.com
to order your meals. Jennifer
Brophy asked that we sign on to
the Rotary Club of Moraga on
Facebook and share the dinner
event posting with your friends.
As of yesterday, we have sold 114
meals. Our goal is 200 meals! The
deadline for ordering is next
Tuesday, September 22 – so get
your orders in!!
Some Other Business…
Community Warning System
With all the fire activity around the
state, our program next week
becomes even more important. Be
sure to invite guests to attend our
Zoom meeting. Just send their
email address to Frank May and he
will make sure that an invitation will
be emailed to them.
Walking the Trails

E-Waste Project Date Change

Rich Render announced that the
date for E-Waste has changed
from Sept.19th to Sept. 26th. The
event runs from 10AM until 4PM.
There will be two shifts – 10 until
about 1 and 1 to 4PM. Rich says
lunch at 12:30PM and beer with
takedown at 4PM.
To fill in the time, Jennifer and
Maria are actively solving puzzles
and watching A’s games. Jennifer
is also monitoring the Spaghetti
and Meatballs event and
performing various other secretarial
duties – Thanks, Jennifer for all
you do for our club.

Rotarians During the Pandemic

Jennifer Brophy and her wife,
Maria Shatera had been staying
busy during the pandemic by taking
long hikes mostly on trails around
Moraga. What a chance to get out
in the fresh air and enjoy our
community. Obviously, this activity
has been curtailed due to our air
quality,
Reservoir from the Trail
The Club Mystery Box
The guess the mystery box
contents contest was replaced this
week by a quiz, by President
Brian, on the contents of the latest
Rotarian magazine.
Brian’s tough questions were
answered by Debbie Koo, Cliff
Dochterman and Evie Michon.
The winners will be given a free
guess on the box’s content next
week.
You can confidentially submit ideas
(or donations) for box items to
Brian. The box is about 10" X 10".
Stay tuned for next week’s
mystery.
Call for Greeters and Speakers
The club really needs
greeters/Invocators. We have the
following club members signed up.
Please help fill out the October
dates:
• 9/22 – Linda May
• 9/29 – Ron Mucovich
Please help fill the Open spots.
It is Fun, it’s Easy! Call Herb on
925-376-9478 to reserve your date.
Debbie Roessler needs speakers.
She says a good source of
potential speakers are news
articles in the local papers. Per
Debbie, “You can find speaker
ideas everywhere.” Please help
Debbie, particularly because she
will be facing unknown time
constraints with Lou at home now.
~~Program~
Debbie Roessler briefly introduced
or speaker this week, Jim
Margraff, a technical innovator and
a member of the Lamorinda
Sunrise Rotary Club.
Jim introduced first he group to
some of the technology that he and
his companies have developed
through the years including an
interactive world globe. This globe
interacts with the user and
promotes a spatial way to learn.
Control of Objects Through
Vision
Jim described some of the work
and projects with devices that allow
the control of objects with just
eyesight. He described glasses
and other virtual reality viewers that
interact with eye to drive a user
experience.
Livescribe – World’s First Smart
Pen
Jim described the smart pen he The Kinoo solution will provide an
developed as an aid to notetaking augmented chat space between a
and learning comprehension. child and an adult. For example, a
Central to the Livescribe platform is grandchild will be able to “play”
the smartpen, a ballpoint pen with with his grandfather. The figure
an embedded computer and digital below illustrates the grandchild
audio recorder. When used with along with a few characters to help
Anoto digital paper, it records what the conversation along.
it writes for later uploading to a
computer, and synchronizes those
notes with any audio it has
recorded.
Jim briefly described the learning
work he did with LeapFrog and the
LeapPad. He also described the
virtual reality work that he has done
for Rotary. He has presented at
many Rotary events including the
International convention.
Jim has started a new company,
Kinoo. Its mission is to answer the A friendly character, called Kodii,
following question. becomes a new digital friend to
both the grandchild and the
grandparent. Doesn’t this sound
like fun?
The learning artificial intelligence Brian South thanked Jim. A
software will direct the classroom first aid medical kit will
conversation to allow the be sent to Moraga schools in his
grandparent to “play” with the child name. Thanks again, Jim.
while, at the same time, teaching
~~Final Words~~
what he knows. It could take the
form of a game, a tutorial Brian South announced that the
conversation or simply just a chat “Encore” card raffle had a prize pot
with grandpa or grandma. this week of $50.Debbie Roessler
was selected to play the game this
This effort began with the space
week. She picked the Ace of
program where personnel can be
Hearts as the lucky winner. The
effectively isolated and need a
Ace of Clubs denied her the pot.
social connection. This connection
Better luck next time! The pot
can be provided by a social agent
Remains at $50 next week – so
utilizing artificial intelligence.
stay tuned.
Our recent experiences with
If you would like to be included in
distance learning in our schools
this game send $10 to Rich
further illustrate the need for this
Render.
teaching and communication
capability going forward. It will The meeting was adjourned with a
provide a learning experience that ringing of the Moraga Rotary Bell
is customized to each child and and a wish for a blessed week to
their needs. all. See you on the Zoom next
week!
Michelle Hodgen indicated some
software testers are needed. Send
her a note at advisor@kinoo.family
if you have some grandkids
between the ages of three and
seven and might be interested
Jim, thank you for providing this
forward-thinking presentation to our
club today. We look forward to an
update as your efforts move
forward.
Moraga Rotary Directors 2020/2021
President Brian South
President Elect Brian South
Past Co-Presidents Evie Michon & Debbie Koo
Executive Secretary Evie Michon
Secretary Jennifer Brophy
Treasurer and Youth Services Chair Rich Render
Club Administrator Debbie Roessler
Foundation Chairman John Erickson
Community Service Chairman Tony Schoemehl
Public Relations Chairman Gary Irwin
Fundraising Chairman Frank May
International Service Chairs Dianne Wilson & Debbie Koo
Membership Chairman Roger Gregory
Director at Large Mary Sue Erickson
Director at Large Linda May
Advisor to the Board John Erickson
Advisor to the Board Jim Campbell
Advisor to the Board Cliff Dochterman
District Governor 5160 Mark Roberts
President, Rotary International Holger Knaack

This month’s Newsletter Editor – Frank May